The deal is done: now to deliver

Eighteen years after the formation of the Scottish parliament, Sturgeon and Swinney can celebrate Holyrood’s new fiscal powers (Alamy)

For John Swinney, it was a week of two halves. It started with a trip to open
the new solar-powered changing facilities at the Blairgowrie and Rattray
Community Football Club in the presence of the youth players. By Tuesday,
Scotland’s finance secretary was back playing hardball with George Osborne.

After weeks of wrangling, which made David Cameron’s Haribo-fuelled EU deal
look gentlemanly, there was little sign on Tuesday morning that a deal would
be struck between the Treasury and the Scottish government over the fiscal
framework for the new powers outlined in the Smith Commission report.

At stake was the assertion by Smith that any settlement had to be fair to UK
taxpayers, yet in no way detrimental to the Scottish budget. Swinney was
calling foul and the bickering over the complicated cash formula to underpin
the Scotland Bill looked set to continue.